A touch of silk

At a time when the importance of co-operation between the Law Society and Bar should he self-evident, the recent comments regarding QCs made by the Law Society President is, to say the least, unhelpful (see [2000] Gazette, 28 April, 14).As a specialist sole practitioner, I rely heavily upon counsel and see at first hand the excellent results they produce for clients in both magistrates, Crown and the County Court.None of those clients would agree with the President's (reported) assessment, or indeed with the tone of the editorial in which you appear to endorse the view of detractors of the system that silk represents anything more than old-fashioned patronage.Counsel do not, I believe, generally take silk for many years after call, nor is appointment to that rank necessarily a stepping stone to the Bench.Given the relatively recent ability of solicitors to appear as advocates in the higher courts, the low number of solicitor QCs should surprise no one.Alexander McCulloch, McCullochs, Crawley, West Sussex